EA Sports released its highest-rated offensive players for CFP 27, and the rankings feature a glaring misstep at the quarterback position. Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning landed as a 91 overall, slotting behind five other signal callers: CJ Carr, Jaden Myeva, Trinidad Chambliss, Julian Sayin, and Dante Moore. While some of those placements are defensible, Manning sitting sixth among quarterbacks doesn’t hold up under scrutiny.

Dante Moore is the only QB who should be ahead of Manning

Dante Moore earning a higher rating than Manning is fair. Moore had the better overall season and possesses legitimate first-overall-pick potential heading into 2026. Beyond Moore, the argument falls apart. Julian Sayin, the second-highest-rated quarterback in the game, is not of the same caliber of athlete as Manning. Sayin is a good college quarterback, and this isn’t about diminishing what he’s accomplished. But Manning should be ranked ahead of him.

The most important aspect of this debate comes down to what overall ratings should actually reflect. Ratings should be carried by talent and physical tools, not raw statistical output from a single season. Manning understandably had a slow start to 2025, and the version of him that showed up in Week 1 against Ohio State looked nothing like the quarterback who closed the season on a dominant stretch. The end-of-year Manning was the player everyone expected when he took over as the starter, and penalizing him for that early adjustment period feels misguided.

Manning’s athleticism is constantly overlooked

A lot of people overlook Manning’s athleticism because Eli and Peyton Manning were famously immobile during their NFL careers. Arch is a completely different player. If we’re looking for an athletic comparison for his speed and size, he resembles Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen. That combination of arm talent, mobility, and physicality separates him from quarterbacks like Sayin in ways that a video game rating should capture.

Manning’s ability to impact games as an athlete was a significant reason Texas finished the 2025 season strong. He made plays with his legs that most college quarterbacks simply can’t, and his physical tools project to the next level in ways that should elevate his rating above where EA placed him.

Manning will prove EA Sports wrong by the end of the year

EA Sports can do whatever they want with their initial rankings. They can slot Manning sixth among quarterbacks on launch day, and it won’t change the trajectory. He is going to be the top quarterback in this game by the end of the year. Once the season gets rolling and Manning picks up where he left off, a ratings adjustment will be inevitable.

One thing is for sure: the 91 overall rating doesn’t reflect what Manning is as a prospect or as a player. Hopefully, EA corrects course sooner rather than later, because the gap between Manning and the quarterbacks ranked above him is far narrower than these ratings suggest.